// Winning fund groups in 2019

24 Feb 2020

The Brexit brouhaha, geopolitical concerns and the Woodford fallout all conspired to make 2019 a tough year for fund groups. Thankfully it ended on a high with sales surging in December after the government’s election victory and the end of political uncertainty. As a result, gross fund sales via platforms in the last quarter rose to £34bn and net sales £9bn, bringing yearly totals to £112bn and £36bn respectively.

In the Vanguard

The top ten fund groups by gross and net sales include a heavy sprinkling of fund groups with both active and passive fund ranges. They have been benefited from the model portfolio trend and the use of trackers as portfolio building blocks. There was also strong demand for mixed asset funds. These trends put Vanguard streets ahead of the competition with double the sales of its closest rivals, and at least four funds in the top ten bestselling funds. Proving that boutiques can compete with larger generalists were Lindsell Train and Fundsmith, their Global funds attracting robust sales despite a tail‐off in performance in the second half of the year.

Passive funds have been strong all year, but in the fourth quarter of 2019 they dominated the market, with eight out of top ten funds by net sales being passive. Only two active funds were in the top ten, the Baillie Gifford American and Royal London Sustainable Leaders funds.

Bella Caridade‐Ferreira, CEO of Fundscape said, “In 2019 investors chose to sit on the fence until the direction of Brexit was clear. Now that that is behind us, fund sales should surge. The ISA season, which was crippled in 2019 by the 31 March Brexit deadline, will be a bumper one in 2020.’

‘Demand for passive funds has grown exponentially. The regulator, advisers and investors are focused on value for money and that is driving down fees and pushing up demand for trackers. In 2019 trackers accounted for 40% of sales, but their market share rocketed to 52% in the fourth quarter. We expect that trend to continue in 2020… unless of course there’s a significant stock‐market correction.’

Notes to Editors:

The Platform Report is a confidential report published by Fundscape. To subscribe to the report, platforms must contribute asset and sales data on a quarterly basis. For further information about the report and Fundscape, please visit www.fundscape.co.uk. A total of 19 platforms are included in the analysis. Platform coverage is estimated at 98% of the platform universe.

Current and historical data in this press release is available by subscription to the Platinum database. To find out more, visit https://fundscape.co.uk/service/the‐platinum‐database/

1 Source: Fundscape Platinum Database. Figures are provided by platforms. Some platforms do not provide the full list of fund sales, so group and fund sales may be underrepresented.

For further information or background please contact: press@fundscape.co.uk